Just trying to survive highschool
by ShikaInofan13
Summary: Konoha is now at peace because the war ended with the Akatsukis.There were hardly any missions and so Tsunade insisted all of the teenage shinobies to go back to school.Ino survived missions,now she is just trying to survive highschool.ShikaIno. hints of NaruHina,SasuSaku and NejiTen.
1. Chapter 1

**Just trying to survive highschool **

**Chapter 1- **

Beep. Beep. Beep. Be-SLAP! The seventeen year old blonde kunoichi turned off her alarm clock as she lazily got out of bed.

"Ugh. Why did Tsunade- Sama insist on us going back to school? Why?" Ino complained as she lazily searched through her closet for something to wear. She just wanted to go back to bed. She had been up all night studying. Let's just say she been going through a lot of stress. Finally her eyes landed on the perfect outfit. She then grabbed the outfit and laid it on her bed. Her outfit consisted of a purple and green striped, off the shoulder, midriff top with a pink tank top underneath. She then grabbed a pair of tan cargo capris and then searched through her closet for her purple flats to complete her outfit. After she found her flats she decided to take a quick shower. After she was done with her shower, she then blow dried her hair and got dress. It takes her forever to get ready that is why she sets her alarm clock to wake her up at 5.

"I need something to wake me up. Hmm I think music would do the trick." Ino yawned as she walked over to her night stand where her i-phone was and turned on some music. She then walked over to her vanity, picked up her brush and started to style her hair. She always wore her hair up into a ponytail today she wanted to do something different. So she decided to wear her hair half up and half down with a poof on top. She then dig through her drawer and grabbed a purple headband to finished the look.

"Hmm I need some accessories." She thought as she digs through her jewelry drawer and pulled out a pink beaded bracelet, pink beaded earrings and a pink beaded necklace. After that she did her makeup which consists of eye liner, mascara and lip gloss. After she was done she went down stairs and ate breakfast.

"Good morning Ino." Her dad said as he looked up from his daily newspaper.

"Good morning dad." She then replied as she went to the cupboard and grabbed the bagels. She then put the bagel in the toaster and waited for it to be done.

"Did you sleep well honey?" her father asked as he took a sip of his tea. Her dad was an early bird. He was always up before her. He was always doing the same thing too when she got up, which is read the newspaper and drinking tea.

"Not really, I was up all night studying." She replied as she put her bagel on a plate and sat down in front of her father.

"At least you weren't up late talking to a boy," her father looked up at her from his newspaper with a "I know everything look on his face"

"True," she yawned. About 3 minutes passed and she finished her bagel. She then got up and put her plate in the sink. She then headed back upstairs to grab her stuff. She then came back down, gave her dad a kiss on the cheek and headed out the door.

**At Konoha High-** After surviving 3 classes it was time for lunch. After Ino ate lunch she decided to go to the library since she found out that she is failing almost all her classes. She was really disappointed.

"I can't believe I'm failing almost all my classes," she thought as she opened the door to the library. She then sat down at a nearby table.

"I'm a senior. I can't be failing my classes," she got out her math book and started to work on math. All of a sudden she felt someone presence and looked up to see Shikamaru Nara standing in front of her table with a bored expression on his face. He wore a white tank top with a dark green over shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He had on black jeans with dark green converse. She had to admit her teammate did look good.

"Hey." He said to her with a bored expression on his face.

"Hi," She said back annoyed.

"So," he said slowly. "How are you today?" he asked as he sat down in front of her.

"Fine. What do you want?" She said barely looking at him.

"I'm just making a polite conversation. Don't you do that anymore?" he said while putting his hand to his chest pretending to be hurt.

"Shikamaru I'm not in a good mood to talk." Ino said annoyed.

"Yea I can see that. And beside I was just wanted to know if you're going to be busy Saturday night," he said.

"Yea I am. I am going on a date." She replied.

"Oh a date, who's the lucky guy?" he asked. He said the word "lucky" sarcastically so she glared at him.

"Sai" she then replied.

"Sai, huh? I never liked that guy. Well I guess if you like guys who are emotionless empty headed jerk. Then I guess he's a perfect match for you," he said with a smirk. That caught her attention big time.

" yeah well I will tell you who your perfect match is but I don't know anyone who is a confident asshole who thinks he knows everything with an IQ over 200." She slammed her pencil down and glared at him annoyed. He sense that she was annoyed but he didn't care. She looked cute when she is mad.

"So are you and Sai serious?" he asked as he leaned in towards her with a smirk. He just loves bugging her.

"We've been going out for about a month."

"So you're about through with him then?

"No, but I'm through with you. Now go away." She said that as she forced a smile on her face.

"Hey I didn't mean to be rude." He said with a perfectly straight face.

"Besides I was just asking because I know someone who wants to go out with you," he then added. That also caught her attention because she looked up from her math assignment and looked at him curiously.

"Oh? Who?"

Shikamaru hesitated for a moment, as though he wasn't sure if he wanted to come right out and tell her.

"Naruto Uzumaki," he admitted. Ino shuddered when he said that.

Naruto Uzumaki was Konoha high's class clown. If something stupid happened at Konoha High chances were Naruto was involved.

"Why does he want to go out with me?" she asked.

"Well ever since Sasuke Uchiha came back. He found out that he can't have Sakura Haruno because she is dating him and so he decided he wants to go out with you," he then replied with a shrug.

"Well tell Naruto I'd rather just be friends and that he should open his eyes and realize that Hinata Hyuuga likes him. Also tell him I have a boyfriend."

"Fine I will tell him, but I still think you should give him a chance," Shikamaru said looking disappointed.

"Why should I give him a chance?" she asked looking up at him. She should have known that she isn't going to get any work done with him around.

"He is one of my best friends and he likes you for some odd reason. I just want you both to be happy." He shrugged.

"No. What's the real reason?" she asked still not believing him. He was silent for a moment, as though debating what to tell her.

"Fine I will tell you. Naruto promised me he will buy me a new Shogi board if I set him up with you." He finally admitted it to her.

"Why don't you buy a new one yourself?" she asked.

"Because I got no money," he then said.

"Why don't you get off your lazy ass and get yourself a job then?"

"I don't want to." He then said.

"Well sucks for you. I'm not going out with him."

"Please Ino. I need a new Shogi board. The one I have is really old and falling apart. Besides you go out with everybody what difference would it make if you went out with Naruto? Just one date with him, that's all I'm asking." He pleaded. Ino couldn't believe it. Shikamaru never asked her for a favor before.

"No."

"Ok Ino. You tell me what it takes. What do you want from me?" he asked. It was ironic he should offer her help now, when she needed help so badly. She thought about it for a while. Maybe he could help her get her grades up or help her study the rest of the year. But she knew he wouldn't agree to that. Or will he?

"Sorry, what I want you can't give me." She sighed dejectedly. Shikamaru blinked at her, his eye brows were raised in a question.

"And what would that be?" he said to her in a mildly shocked voice. He probably thought she was talking about some sort of criminal activity.

"Better grades."

"Oh. That makes sense." He then said.

"What does?" she asked confused.

"The reason that you are in here." He said as he stretched.

"What do you mean? I always go to the library." Ino said confused.

"No you don't. You're only in here when you have to study for a test that is next period or if you are failing a class and trying to bring up your grades by catching up on assignments. Trust me Ino. I know you all too well." He said with a smirk. Boy was that true. He did know her all too well.

"Besides since when did you start caring about your grades?" he added.

"Ever since I started to think about graduating and going to college."

"I bet that dance scholarship didn't come through. Did it?" he asked. He knew she was the captain of the dance team and he remembered her telling him about the scholarship she applied for.

"No, and I suppose you're waiting for Tsunade to tell you that you don't have to go to school anymore because you're a smart ass and knows everything." She said still annoyed.

"No. I don't know everything. Even though I hate school, I still come and learn. I want to learn new things and besides I want to graduate and go to Konoha University."

Konoha University, one of the best ninja colleges in Konoha. You learn very experienced jutsus there. That's why every shinobi wants to go there. That's the college she really wants to go to. You'd think that knowing Shikamaru was going there would have made KU seem less desirable, but it had the opposite effect on her. She couldn't be rejected by a place that Shikamaru could be so casual about getting into.

"I know you're a chunin and all, but are you sure you have the grades to get in?" she asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm too lazy to pick up a pencil. Besides they take other things into consideration when they read your application. I've been leading teams on missions for a long time. I also helped with the chunin exams. I have leadership qualities." He smiled over at her nonchalantly.

"You have so many other qualities too. Many of which I have to deal with on a daily basis."

"Troublesome woman" he muttered. He ignored her and said,

"If you go out with Naruto, I promise not to bug you. Or if you want I promise I will help you out with your assignments." He then said.

"I will think about it," she then told him. The bell rang and so they walked to class together.

**During class- **Ino was sitting in her next period class which was an advanced shinobi math class. She never understood the math. Also the class was so boring it was hard for her to pay attention. So during the period she thought about what she and Shikamaru talked about. She knew he hadn't given up on the whole Naruto thing. He probably be bugging her for days, until she was so frustrated with it all that she has to go buy him a new Shogi board herself. She hasn't realized it before until now, but Shikamaru had given her an idea. He talked about leadership qualities maybe there was something she could do show her leadership qualities. She did have them after all. She was captain of the dance team she lead practices all the time. She knew that she could do it; all she needed to do was show it, but how?


	2. Chapter 2

**Just trying to survive highschool **

**Chapter 2- **Ino waked up Saturday morning thinking about an idea that she could do to show her leadership qualities. But unfortunately none came to her mind. All of sudden her thoughts were interrupted.

Cause baby you're a firework. Come on show them what your worth. Make them go "Oh, oh, oh!" As you shoot across the sky-y-y. Baby you're a firework, Come on let your colors burst. Make them go "Oh, oh, oh!" You're going to leave them ' falling' down-own-own.

As Ino thoughts were interrupted by the song Firework by Katy Perry, she soon realized that her phone was ringing. She picked up her phone to see Hinata's smiling face. She then tapped the talk button.

"Hi Hinata-Chan" she answered.

"Hi Ino-Chan, me and Tenten wants to know if you want to go shopping with us?" Hinata asked.

"When?" Ino then asked as she went to her closet to figure out what to wear.

"Today around 2:00." Hinata then replied. Maybe her friends can help her figure out an idea. They are always good for that. She then thought about it some more before she gave Hinata an answer.

"Sure that will be great." She then replied.

"Ok see you there!" Hinata said.

"Alright! See you later! Bye." Ino said goodbye and then hanged up.

"Well since I am going shopping, I need to find a perfect shopping outfit." Ino thought as she kept digging through her closet. Her eyes then landed on a flirty top that she hasn't worn in like forever. It was a purple ruffle tank top that had scoop neckline.

"I forgot I had this!" Ino said excitedly.

"Well I'm definitely going to wear this! Now I have to find something to go with it." She then said as she kept searching through her closet. She then found a pair of black high waisted shorts that showed off her legs. After all she did want to look good.

"Ooh! These will work." She then put on her outfit. She looked in the mirror.

"Hmm I need a belt." She then looked back in her closet and found a gold belt. She then put it on.

"Perfect. Now for accessories," she went to her vanity and opened one of her drawers and found a gold bangle and a gold heart necklace. To finish off her outfit she put on her black ankle boot heels that showed off her purple nail polished toes. She then took one more look in mirror and then did her makeup. She decided to wear her hair down today. So she brushed it really good to give her hair some volume. After that she was ready to go. So she grabbed her purse and her keys. She then headed out the door to her car.

Konoha was a wreck ever since the Akatsukis attacked. There were tons of buildings destroyed. The village did look like a wreck. But after a lot of hard work and a lot of time, Konoha was brand new. But now the village didn't look like the way it did before, it look a lot different. There were roads where people can have their own cars and drive instead of walking. If people wanted to walk there were sidewalks. Konoha looked a lot like a modern day Japan.

Ino got in her purple Mazda Miata and drove off to her family's flower shop to check in on her mom and asked her if she can go shopping. When she got there she drove into the drive way, got out and walked inside.

"Hi mom." She said to her mom as she walked in. Her mother noticed her right away because of her loud high heel footsteps. She was arranging some flowers when Ino walked in.

"Hi honey. You look beautiful. Are you going somewhere?" her mother asked as she smiled up at her daughter.

"Yea. I wanted to ask you if I can go shopping with Hinata and Tenten." Ino said to her mother as she helped her finished her arrangement.

"Sure just be back in time to help me in here." Her mother then said to her. Ino then hugged her mom.

"Ok I will. Thanks mom." She then waved goodbye and headed back to her car. She then headed to the mall where her friends are currently at.

**At the Konoha mall-** "Is Ino on her way?" Tenten asked as she took a sip of her cappuccino. She and Hinata were at the MoMo café waiting for Ino so they can hit the stores.

"She should be. She said that she was coming." Hinata then replied to Tenten, while she checked her phone for the time.

"Well she better get here soon, because I heard that Lulu's is having a sale and I really want to go check it out." Tenten replied impatiently as she took another sip of her cappuccino. Hinata did the same.

"Speaking of the fashionable fashionista here she comes now" Tenten then said as she pointed towards Ino's direction. Hinata then turned around and what do you know she was right. She saw Ino strutting towards them looking fashionable as always.

"Hi guys! Sorry I'm late I had to check on my mom at the shop" Ino walked over to them. She then gave them both a hug. She then noticed what they were wearing. Hinata was wearing a lavender floral summer dress with a white cardigan and white flats. While Tenten was wearing a grey long sleeve top that showed off her shoulders and wore dark blue skinny jeans with black ankle boots.

"It's ok." They both smiled at her. Ino then noticed that Sakura wasn't with them.

"Hey where is Sakura? She is always with us to go shopping." Ino asked.

"She insisted on spending time with Sasuke." Tenten answered her question while she rolled her eyes. Ever since Sasuke came back, Sakura has been crazy in love with him. Apparently she thinks that Sasuke change and that he's not searching for revenge anymore. The only reason Ino is dating Sai is because she realized that she can't have Sasuke because Sakura is dating him. Unfortunately for her, Naruto can't have Sakura so that's why he likes her.

"Typical. Oh well we can shop without her. I heard Lulu's is having a sale and I really want to go check it!" Ino said to them excitedly. Tenten then got up.

"It's like you read my mind, you fashionable fashionista!" Tenten smiled as she linked arms with Ino. Hinata then got up and did the same. They then strutted their way to Lulu's.

**Meanwhile at the food court- **Shikamaru, Naruto, and Neji were also at the mall. Apparently Naruto found out that there was another Ichiraku's at the mall and so he drags Shikamaru and Neji along to go check it out. That's where they are currently at eating lunch.

"Mmmm! They may have good ramen, but no one can beat Teuchi's ramen!" Naruto said as he slurped down a bowl of ramen.

"Your even his best customer just pray that Teuchi don't find out that you were here or else he will be heart broken." Shikamaru said as finished up his bowl of ramen. Neji was quietly finishing up his.

"That's true I certainly don't want that to happen," Naruto then replied to Shikamaru.

"Oh! Did you ask Ino about the thing?" Naruto then added while he looked at Shikamaru. That caught Neji's attention so he looked at Naruto.

"What thing?" Neji asked curiously.

"Naruto promised me that he will buy me a new Shogi board if I set him up with Ino," Shikamaru said to Neji while ignoring Naruto's question.

"You're an idiot for thinking that you can get with Ino. You do know that you're messing with Shikamaru's territory right?" Neji laughed. Shikamaru shook his head.

"Ino is not my territory," Shikamaru said in denial while blushing.

"Whoa man! If I knew she was your territory I would never ask you to set me up with her." Naruto said to Shikamaru. Shikamaru shook his head again.

"She is not my territory and besides she is-"Shikamaru then said but got interrupted by Neji.

"Speaking of your territory, there she is with my cousin and Tenten," Neji pointed across the food court where he saw them strutting past with tons of shopping bags in their hands. When Shikamaru spotted Ino he couldn't believe it was her. But then he saw those blue eyes of hers, he then knew right away it was her.

"Well since you say she is not your territory I'm going to go over there and talk to her!" Naruto said to Shikamaru as he got up and ran over to them.

"I bet he is going to end up getting hurt." Shikamaru said to Neji as he watches Naruto go over to the girls.

"Physically or emotionally?" Neji asked with a smirk.

"Physically," Shikamaru smirked.

"Yup," Neji agreed. They then got up walked over to where Naruto and the girls were at.

**Meanwhile with the girls- **While the girls were heading to another store they saw Naruto coming towards them. He wore an orange t-shirt that said "The Anbu black ops arrested me for having these guns" and it had a stick figure showing off his muscles. He also wore black jeans and had on orange converse.

"Oh hey there's Naruto." Tenten said as she pointed to Naruto.

"Great." Ino thought as she rolled her eyes. She knew he was going to come up to her and make move on her. She really didn't want to deal with him.

"Naruto-kun, it looks like he wants to talk to me." Hinata thought. She then blushed. She was then disappointed when Naruto totally ignored her and started to talk to Ino.

"Hey Ino, looking good!" Naruto said to Ino with a pervishly smirk on his face. Tenten rolled her eyes when he said that and Ino just glared.

"NARUTO YOU ARE SUCH A PERV!" she then said angrily as she punched Naruto on the head. Ino then stormed off and Tenten followed.

"Naruto-kun are you okay?" Hinata asked.

"Oh Hinata I never noticed you were there." Naruto looked up at her with a big goose bump on his head from where Ino punched him. When he said that, Hinata just turned around and went to go find Ino and Tenten.

"Hmm I wonder what I did wrong." Naruto thought as he rubbed his head. He then saw Shikamaru and Neji walking over to him.

"I told you he is going to get hurt," Shikamaru smirked. Neji just laughed in response.

**Meanwhile with the girls- **"Ugh he is so juvenile! Coming up to me and flirting with me like that. He even ignored Hinata can you believe that?" Ino said annoyed to Tenten.

"Why was he flirting with you in the first place it's so unlike him?" Tenten asked as they were looking around Delia's. Before answering her question, Ino looked to make sure Hinata wasn't here.

"I don't want Hinata to found out about this because I don't want her to get hurt, but Shikamaru told me yesterday that Naruto likes me and he promised Shikamaru that he will buy him a new Shogi board if Shikamaru sets him up with me," Ino then said as she picked up a purple dress and looked at it.

"What did you say?" Tenten then asked.

"I told Shikamaru to tell Naruto that I just want to be friends. Also I told him to tell him that he needs to open up his eyes and realize that Hinata likes him and that I am dating Sai." Ino then said.

"Well it seems like Shikamaru didn't tell him." Tenten then said as she picked up a dress and looked at it.

"Yea and that's what I'm mad about. Also I'm mad about how he treats Hinata." Ino then said as she put the dress back on the rack. Tenten didn't have to say anything because that was when Hinata came back with a sad look on her face. Ino felt horrible.

"Hinata are you okay? I'm sorry about what happen back there." Ino said as she hugs Hinata.

"We are going to make him notice you so don't be sad!" Ino then added trying to cheer her up. Hinata just looked at her.

"How?" Hinata then asked.

"We will think of something" Ino said.

After they were done with shopping, Ino decided to go home. It was time for her to go to the flower shop and work her shift. But when she got there her mom was already closing up the shop.

"Hey mom, I thought I had to work a shift tonight!" Ino yelled out the window of her car to her mom.

"I'm closing up shop early so you can go home and get ready for your date!" her mother then said as she flips the sign over to close.

"I almost forgot about that" Ino thought.

"Ok! Thanks mom, see you at home!" she then yelled to her mom as she started to drive off. When she got home she put her stuff on her bed and went to the bathroom to take a shower. After her shower she got dressed. She wore a red satin dress that hugged her curves, which also went to her knees. The dress showed off her shoulders and her legs. Even though Sai called her beautiful, she still wanted to look good. After she put on her dress, she then looked in her closet for her rhinestone heels. When she found them, she slipped them on. After that, she curled her hair making it wavy. She then put on her makeup after she was done. When she was done getting ready, she grabbed her purse and her phone. She then say goodbye to her mom and dad and headed out the door. She decided to walk to the restaurant where she and Sai were supposed to meet at. It wasn't that cold and besides she could use the exercise. She then arrived at the restaurant and walked inside.

"Table for one miss?" a waiter asked.

"Um no, I'm actually meeting someone. So table for two." She then said to the waiter.

"Right this way," the waiter said as he led her to a table by a window.

"Thank you," she said to the waiter as she sat down.

"Would you like something to drink?" the waiter asked.

"Yes please. A glass of water would do fine." She then said to the waiter. The waiter then left to get her a glass of water. A minute passed and the waiter came back with a glass of water.

"Here you go miss," the waiter then said.

"Thank you," she then replied to him. She looked out the window and waited for Sai. An hour passed and there was no sign of him.

"Where is he?" she thought impatiently. She then got out her phone and tried calling him, but got no answer.

"Maybe he is just running late or he forgot that he had to meet me here and was at my house this moment." She thought as she placed her phone on the table and took drink of her water.

"Miss, are you going to order?" the waiter that gave her a glass of water asked.

"Um not yet, I'm still waiting for my date to arrive" Ino said as she looked up at him. The waiter then left. Ino looked out the window and then looked at her phone. It was 6:00 and Sai was supposed to meet her here at 5. She was starting to get really impatient. So she tried calling Sai again and again she got no answer. Two hours past and still there was no sign of Sai. Ino was starting to get the feeling that she had been stood up by Sai.

"Miss if you are not going to order anything, I have to ask you to leave." the waiter said. Ino just got up and walked out of the restaurant in response. She tried calling her mom to pick her up, but there was no answer. So she tried calling her dad, still no answered. So she now had to walk home. But when things couldn't get worse, it did. It started to rain. It started get very cold too and she forgot to bring a coat and a pair of comfortable shoes. Now she has to walk home in the pouring rain in high heels all because of some emotionless empty headed jerk stood her up. (A/n: I am not bashing Sai. I actually like Sai but in this story Sai is a jerk.) About ten minutes of walking, her feet started to hurt.

"I should drive to the restaurant instead. But no I wanted to walk because it was nice out. Now it's freezing cold and raining." She then stopped at a nearby store that had an awning so that she could get dry for a while. She then slipped off her shoes because her feet were starting to hurt.

"Much better," she thought. All of a sudden someone came up behind her and put a hand over her mouth. She started to scream but no one could hear her except for the guy that was harassing her.

"You better shut the hell up bitch or else I'm going to slit your throat." The guy threatened her as he drags her into a nearby alley. He was going to rape her, she just knew it. She was so scared. She tried all her might to push the guy away, but he was too strong. The guy then shoved her up against a wall and then pressed his body against her.

"I just love that sexy body of yours. I'm sure going to have fun with you tonight." The guy had an evil smirk on his lips as he started to have his way with her. She couldn't believe that this was happening to her. The guy started to grope her breasts.

"You sick bastard, get your fucking hands off me!" she yelled as she slapped him.

"Shut the hell up bitch I'm going to have my fucking way with you whether you like it or not!" The guy said he then started to slide his hand up her dress and started to touch her in the wrong spot. Ino started to cry.

"Someone please help me. Please. This wouldn't of never happen if Sai never stood me up. Shikamaru was right about him." She thought as she started to cry. She just wished this night would end.

**Meanwhile with Shikamaru- **Tsunade called Shikamaru and told him that he has to go on a mission to find a rogue ninja that was loose in Konoha. Shikamaru was currently looking for him at the moment. Dressed in his ninja attire, he was ready to fight. All of a sudden he heard a scream and ran to where he heard it. When he got there he saw the rogue ninja that he was looking for and saw a blonde girl. The rogue ninja was sexually harassing her. He didn't notice who the girl was before until he got a good look of her face. The girl who was being sexually harassed was Ino. His teammate, the girl he secretly loves. He was pissed off the moment he saw it was her. That guy was going to pay. It happened all too fast before Ino knew it she was on the ground. She looked up to see a pissed off Shikamaru shoving the guy who sexually harassing her up against the wall.

"You keep your fucking hands off her you fucking bastard! If you think you are going to get your way with her, then you are fucking mistaken!" Shikamaru yelled angrily. Before the guy could even respond, Shikamaru slit the guy's throat causing him to be dead. Ino couldn't believe what she saw. She never saw Shikamaru that angry before. Shikamaru then looked at Ino. She looked like a mess. She was soaked from the rain, her makeup was smeared, and her dress was half way on and half way off. He could see her bra and her underwear. Seeing that caused him to blush but he ignored it and went over to her to check on her.

"Ino, are you ok?" Shikamaru asked worriedly. Ino then quickly fixed her dress so her bra and underwear was not showing. She didn't say anything to him. She just kept crying. He then helped her up and took off his flak jacket and put it around her. It was the only thing he had to keep her warm.

"Let's get you home Ino," he then said to her as he looked at her. He then wonders why she was out late anyways. But then he remembered it was Saturday and that she had a date. That's why she was dressed up. But why Sai wasn't with her? Why was she walking alone? Those questions ranged through his head as he walked her home. The whole way to her house he had his arm wrapped around her the whole time keeping her close to him. Half way to her house, it finally stopped raining.

"Ino, what happened?" Shikamaru stopped and asked her. He really wanted to know. Ino then stopped walking and looked up at him. He had a serious look on his face. He looked really concerned. She didn't want to tell him that Sai stood her up.

"Ino I want to know. Please tell me." This time he wasn't kidding. Ino thought about it and then replied.

"Fine, Sai had to leave early because of an emergency." Ino lied. He even knew she was lying.

"You're lying Ino, what's the real reason that made you walk home by yourself and get into trouble?"

She really didn't want to tell him but I guess that she had to.

"Fine, Sai stood me up! Then I was forced to leave the restaurant. Because I was forced to leave I had to stand outside. I then try calling my mom but she didn't answer her phone and neither would my dad. So I was stuck walking home in the pouring rain wearing high heels! And then while I was walking I stopped for a while and took off my shoes. That was when that stupid bastard started to harass me! And then- ugh!" she just started to break down in tears. She was having the worst night of her life. But she was glad that Shikamaru came and rescued her. Shikamaru wrapped his arms around her. He couldn't believe that stupid butt head stood her up. He would never do that to her. If only she will open her eyes and realize that he's been here all along. He truly did love her he was just too scared to tell her.

"Like I said before, Sai is an emotionless empty headed jerk." He said comforting her.

"Your right about that." She said as she wiped her tears away.

"Come on lets go get something to eat before we head to your house," he said as he started to walked.

"Ok" she said as she followed him.

They finally got to her house. Her parents were talking to the Anbu black ops when she and Shikamaru walked inside. Her mom then came up to her and gave her a hug.

"Honey what happen? Where have you been? We been worried sick about you." Her mother said worriedly. Ino didn't respond. She just cried while her mom holds her in her arms.

"Ino you were supposed to be home hours ago!" Inoichi her father yelled. He then saw his wife give him the 'your daughter is upset' look and he understood.

"Honey, why don't you go upstairs and take a hot bath. I will go make some tea for you," Ino's mother said as she motioned her daughter to go upstairs. With her heels and her purse in her hand, Ino trudged upstairs. Her mom then went to the kitchen to make some tea. Shikamaru went over to the Anbu black ops and whispered to them about what happen and told them about the rouge ninja's body. The Anbu black ops then disappeared.

"Thank you some Shikamaru for bring Ino home safely," Ino's mother said as she came back from going upstairs to give Ino her tea.

"No problem." Shikamaru smiled.

"I'm glad I brought her home safe too" he then added.

"Why don't you sit and have some tea? Just relax and get dry before going home," Ino's mother offered to Shikamaru.

"Oh no thanks, I have to get home. I don't want my mother freaking out too wondering where I am." Shikamaru said declining her offer.

"Oh no I insist on you staying for a while and relax. I will go call your mother and tell her you're here. She's my best friend, she will understand." Ino's mother then said as she went to grab the phone. Besides she read her husband's mind and he wanted Shikamaru to tell her husband what happen. So she was doing her husband a favor.

"Alright I will stay for a while," Shikamaru then sat down. Inoichi then sat down in front of him.

"Something bad happened to her. That's why I called the Anbu black ops. Tell me Shikamaru what happened to my daughter?" Inoichi asked him. Before he could reply, Ino's mother came back from calling his mom. She then brought him and her husband some tea.

"Shikamaru your mother said it was alright. She said that you need to be home soon though." Ino's mother said to Shikamaru. She then went upstairs to check on her daughter.

"Well I don't think that Ino wants me to tell you what happened. But since it concerns her safety, I will tell you," Shikamaru said as he took a sip of his tea.

"She told me that Sai stood her up," he then admitted.

"That jerk. I told her right from the beginning that she shouldn't like him and what do you know she got hurt." Inoichi shook his head.

"Yea that's what I told her too," Shikamaru agreed.

"After Sai stood her up I guess she decided to walk home." He then added.

"She should of called I would have picked her up. There is no way I'm going to let my baby girl walk home alone in the rain." Inoichi then told him.

"She told me that she tried calling. But no one answered." Shikamaru then said to him.

"That probably because me and her mother was taking a nap when she called. Because I didn't hear my phone ring and neither did my wife with her phone." Inoichi then said to him as he took a sip of his tea.

"Anyways so she was left to walk home alone in the pouring rain and that was when the worst happen," Shikamaru said. Ino's father was silent for a moment as his best friend's son continued.

"You know about the rouge ninja that was loose tonight in Konoha right?" he then asked. Inoichi nodded his head.

"Well Tsunade had me go search for him. Well I found him alright. When I found him he was sexually harassing a teenage girl." Shikamaru then added. Inoichi had a disgusted look on his face when Shikamaru said that.

"Who was the girl?" Inoichi then asked. Shikamaru hesitated as though he didn't know if he wanted to tell him but he did anyway.

"Ino"

After he said that Inoichi got mad. He was pissed that some sick bastard would do that to his baby girl.

"Where the hell is he? I'm going to go fucking kill him." Inoichi said angrily.

"Sir I already killed him." Shikamaru said while trying to calm his dad's best friend. Inoichi started to get calm.

"So he's actually dead?" Inoichi asked calmly.

"Yes sir." Shikamaru then said.

"After I killed him I took Ino out for dinner and then I walked her home" he then added.

"Well I'm glad you brought her home safely. I'm glad that I can count on you." Inoichi told him. Before Shikamaru could even respond Ino's mother came downstairs.

"Well Inoichi our daughter is ok. She is now taking a hot bath. Hopefully she won't get sick tomorrow or else I have to stay home and take care of her. If that happens you're working in the shop for me." Ino's mother said to her husband. She then went back upstairs.

"Women." Inoichi then muttered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Just trying to survive highschool **

**Chapter 3- **Ino sat in the bath tub soaking her sore muscles. Her feet hurt like crazy plus those bruises that the sick bastard left on her arms hurt too. She then remembered that she forgot to talk to her friends about an idea that she can do to show her leadership qualities. After all that happen it was no wonder she forgot about it. Her thoughts kept drifting off to the horrible incident. If only she was stronger she would have never been in that situation. She was really thankful for Shikamaru. She owed him big time for what he did for her. But she still couldn't get over the fact about Sai stooding her up. Why was it every time she started to like a guy things always turned out miserably? Was it so much to ask that a guy sticks with his promise and show up on time for a date? Her whole body hurt, including her heart. Ten minutes passed and Ino got out of the tub. Washed her face and got into her Pajamas. Which were a purple t-shirt, purple and green flannel pajama pants and black fuzzy slippers. She then decided to go down stairs to get more tea and to her surprise Shikamaru was still there talking with her dad. She then noticed Shikamaru's mom and dad were there too. Yoshino Shikamaru's mom was talking to her mom while Shikaku Shikamaru's dad was talking to her dad. They were all in the living room having tea when she came downstairs.

"Ino-Chan, I'm so sorry about what happen. Are you okay?" Yoshino said as she got up and gave Ino a hug.

"Yea. I'm just shaky." Ino said to her as she hugged Yoshino back. She wondered how she knew about it. But then she guess that she heard it from her dad or Shikamaru.

"I bet. I will be too if that happen to me. Next time a guy harasses you just do a little move I like to call SING." Yoshino said to her. Ino just looked at her confused.

"SING?" she asked.

"Yup. Stomach. In step. Nose and Groin." Yoshino smirked. Ino just smiled in response.

"Now if that don't work. Then just try your best to kick his ass." She then added.

"Ok thanks for the advice Yoshino-san." Ino smiled.

"No problem honey. Now for other guy problem, just dump him. Don't waste your time on someone who is not worth it. There are a lot other guys out there. There is probably a guy who been in front of you this whole time that truly likes you." Yoshino said.

"Yea like me. I've been in front of her the whole time." Shikamaru thought in response to what his mother said to Ino.

"Alright." Ino said in response to what Yoshino said. Ino then remembered something and then ran upstairs. She then grabs Shikamaru's flak jacket that was on her bed and then went back down stairs.

"Here's your jacket back. Thanks for letting me use it." She said as she handed back his jacket to him.

"No problem. Are you going to be ok?" Shikamaru asked as he looked up at her with a concern look.

"Yea." She said in response as she sat down next to him.

"Well I think it's time that we start heading home." Shikaku said as he stood up. Inoichi then stood up too.

"Alright, thanks for coming over," Inoichi then shook Shikaku's hand.

"No problem." Shikaku said. Yoshino said her goodbyes to Ino and her mother. Inoichi and his wife then headed out the door to say goodbye or to talk. All who was left inside was Ino and Shikamaru. Shikamaru then got up.

"Well I better go or else my mom is going to come back in here and drag me home." Shikamaru said as he grabs the door handle. Before he can open the door, Ino stopped him. When he turned around, Ino hugged him. It wasn't a normal hug either it was a sincere loving hug. He then wrapped his arms around her. He never wanted to let go. He wanted to hold her forever.

"Thank you" she said as she slowly let go.

"You're welcome." He smiled. He then went out the door.

Ino then went back upstairs and went to bed.

By the time Monday came around, Ino was feeling a lot better than how she was before. She expected Sai to call her but he didn't. She really wished guys would let her know why they don't call. It would make her life so much easier. But she didn't worry about it. She had better things to worry about then guys. She drove to school earlier than normal to make sure she had plenty of time to talk to her friends about Sai and other things. When she got to school her friends were at their lockers. Since they were seniors they got to choose their own locker and where they wanted it in the senior hallway. So they all decided to have their lockers right next to each other. When she got to her locker Sakura noticed her right away.

"Hey Ino-pig, How was your date with Sai?" Sakura asked her.

"I don't want to talk about it." Ino said. She just wasn't in the mood to talk to her or in the mood to hear her brag about Sasuke.

"Why? What happen?" Sakura then ask.

"Sai stood me up ok. Are you happy now?" Ino snapped at her.

"Hey I was just asking ok? You don't have to be a bitch to me." Sakura then said.

"Sorry. I just had a bad weekend that's all. Saturday was really the worst night of my life." Ino said.

"Come on it couldn't be that bad." Tenten said.

"Oh yea it was. Trust me" Ino said.

"Ok then. What happen?" Sakura asked. Ino hesitated for a moment as though she didn't know if she wanted to tell them. But she did anyway.

"After Sai stood me up at the restaurant, I had to walk home in the pouring rain with a dress and high heels on. It was freezing too. I tried calling my mom and dad but they wouldn't answer. But the worst thing happen when I decided to stop and take off my heels for a while." Ino said.

"What happen?" Hinata asked.

"Some guy grabs me from behind and drags me into an alley. He was too strong for me to push him away. He started to sexually harass me and touching me in places where I didn't want to be touch. I was scared that he was going to rape me." Ino started to cry. She hoped that no one else was around to see her cry or else it would have been embarrassing.

"I couldn't do anything. I wasn't strong enough." She then added she couldn't stop crying. Her friends then hugged her.

"I'm so sorry Ino. You should have called me. Now I feel so horrible." Sakura said as she hugged her best friend.

"How did you got away?" she then asked her. Ino wiped her tears.

"Shikamaru came along and kicked his ass," Ino said. Her friends then looked at her surprised.

"Did he kill him?" Tenten asked.

"Hell yea he did." Ino replied.

"Wow." They all then said.

"Yea that's what I thought too," she then said. She then realized something that she wanted to talk to them about.

"Do you guys have any ideas that I can do to show my leadership qualities?" she then asked.

"School elections are a week after prom. Maybe you can run for something." Hinata offered an idea.

"Alright I will think about it. Are you guys going to run for anything?" Ino then asked.

"Not really. I don't want to spend most of my free time planning things with the teachers. Like I don't see enough of them as it is." Sakura shrugged as she gazed at the river of students that made its way through the hallway.

"When Hinata said the idea, I wasn't really thinking about that. I was thinking about being a leader in some way," Ino then said to Sakura response. Sakura was too busy looking at the crowd of students that was walking by to even reply to what Ino said.

"Ino you're the captain of the dance team. Why do you need to show your leadership qualities?" Tenten asked.

"But being in student council could be fun, don't you think?" Ino then asked ignoring her question.

"Are you thinking of running for something Ino?" Sakura asked as she leaned back against her locker and shot Ino a suspicious glance. Ino didn't answer right away. She was still debating whether or not she will use Hinata's idea. But she then made up her mind. Why not run for something? It wasn't a bad idea. Beside it would show her leadership qualities if she did.

"Yea I think I might run for school president." She figured if she was going for leadership potential, then she had better run for president.

"That's great Ino-Chan" Hinata said happy to hear Ino was going to use her idea. She believed that Ino can do it. Sakura had a shocked look on her face when Ino said that.

"You're not serious, are you?" Sakura asked.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Ino asked.

"Because you were the one who said that student body government was for people who didn't have the talent to do sports or the rhythm to be on the dance team. Did you suddenly lose your rhythm?" Sakura then asked as she bit back a smile.

"No, I suddenly got my grades." Ino hadn't meant to tell them her reasoning it just came out.

"Beside I thought my college application might need a boost, like a term as school president," she then added.

"Why do you think your college application need a boost? You're a medic ninja and the captain of the dance team. Don't you think that good enough?" Tenten then asked.

"That's not enough. Konoha University is looking for more than just that. Sure they would take the fact of me being a medic ninja in consideration. But why would they take someone who is the captain of the dance team? They want someone who been leading teams on missions, who has been in student government and who has helped with the chunin exams." Ino then said as she thought about Shikamaru when she said that.

"You never know they might actually accept you," Hinata said.

"You been talking to Shikamaru have you?" Sakura asked with a smirk.

"Yup." Ino admitted. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"So how bad are you're grades?" Tenten asked.

"Let's say I am failing almost all of my classes." Ino then replied. Her friends then winced.

"That sucks," Tenten then said.

"Yea that's why after I eat lunch I always head to library so I can do homework and study," Ino then said.

"Hopefully my grades will get better in time for graduation. So will you guys help with the campaign?" she then asked.

"Sure," Hinata smiled.

"Yea," Tenten agreed.

"What do you need? Posters? Flyers? Nasty rumors about your opponents?" Sakura asked.

"I don't want to spread rumors that wouldn't be fair" Ino then said to her.

"Girl this is politics. When it comes to politics nothing is fair. You have do whatever it takes to win." Tenten said as she let out a half grunt.

"I am going to do whatever it takes," Ino said to Tenten.

"Right now I think it will take posters. Are you guys going to help me or not?" she then added.

"Posters we can do," Hinata smiled. They then spent most of their time until the bell ring discussing ideas for campaign slogans. Ino nodded every once in a while, but was only half paying attention. Tenten's words still hung in the air before her, and she couldn't see beyond them.

"You have to do whatever it takes to win. What did she think it was going to take to win?" Ino asked herself. The bell then rang and she headed for class. She was glad she got one thing crossed off her list. Now she has to get Naruto to notice Hinata and she had to deal with Sai.

During lunch Ino decided that she would deal with Sai. He usually stopped at her table and talk to her before he head towards the art room. She wondered if he would show up today. She wondered what he would say. Before she went with Yoshino's advice, she wanted to give Sai another chance. Giving him another chance would be easier than breaking up. She would even forget about being stood up if he apologize and give her a good reason why he didn't showed up Saturday night. But unfortunately, Sai never showed up.

After lunch she went to math class and fumed about Sai. She finally remembered that Hinata mentioned prom. Would her and Sai make up by then? Did she even want to go to prom with Sai? She asked herself those questions instead of listening to the lesson. Another 3 hours passed and Ino survived another day of school. When she was heading towards her locker, Tenten came up to her and stopped her in her tracks.

"Did you hear about Sai and Temari?" Tenten asked her.

"No, what about them?" Ino then asked.

"I saw Temari asking Sai to prom." Tenten admitted.

"What did he say to her?" Ino then asked.

"He told her yes" Tenten then said. Ino stood open mouthed, waiting for Tenten to tell her she was kidding. But she wasn't kidding. Ino was now mad.

"Well it was nice of that jerk to inform me we weren't going, before he agreed to go with someone else." Ino said as she finally got to her locker.

"He is such a jerk. You're better off without him," Tenten agreed as she watched Ino take out her books and shoved them in her backpack.

"Yea you are right about that." Ino said. She swallowed hard to try to keep her throat from tightening. She absolutely was not going to cry about this. He wasn't worth it. But she hated the fact that she was dumped in such a nasty manner.

"You can find another date to prom. You will find a better guy to go with." Tenten then said.

"Yea that's true." Ino then said.

"And who would that be? It was three weeks till prom and most people had their plans set." She thought. Her stomach knotted up. She had to go. It was her senior year and she really wanted to go. She even made plans with her mom to help her find a dress. Ino said goodbye to Tenten and headed out of the school to the parking lot to find her car.

"I could always go with Naruto" she thought. She then mentally slapped herself for thinking that. She wasn't that desperate and besides she is trying to set him up with Hinata.

"I could go with Shikamaru" she then thought as she opened her car door.

"Why had his name popped into my mind when I was thinking of prom dates?" she asked herself as she climbed into her car. Shikamaru wouldn't go with her. He would rather stay home and play Shogi then go with her. She took a deep breath to calm herself down. Someone would ask her. She then pressed the button to roll the top of her car down. After it was down, she then put on her shades and drove home. When she got home, she went upstairs to her room and worked on homework for the rest of the day. While she thought about everything.


	4. Chapter 4

**Just trying to survive highschool **

**Chapter 4- **Ino woke up Tuesday morning feeling confident, she went to school wearing a red off the shoulder top that hugged her curves, black skinny jeans and a pair of sexy red high heels. She also decided to wear her hair down which was wavy and full of volume. She talked, flirted, and smiled her most upbeat smiles to all the cute guys in her classes. Upbeat shows that she has confidence. Upbeat shows that she doesn't care if some guy just dumped her. After surviving 3 classes, it was time for lunch. So she decided to go to her locker to put away her books before she headed to the cafeteria. When she was putting her books away that was when Sai came up to her.

"Ino I need to talk to you about Saturday and about prom." He said. Ino just looked up at him and glared.

"I don't want to talk about Saturday. You fucking stood me up. And about prom you can tell Temari whatever it is you wanted to say!" Ino said angrily as she slammed her locker door. Sai started to get a scared look on his face.

"Sorry i changed my mind on Saturday. I realize I didn't want to go on a date with you. That I rather just stay home and paint." Sai said to her with an emotionless look on his face. Ino just glared.

"Oh and I never meant it when I called you beautiful. I actually thought you were ugly. But I lied because I didn't want you to beat me up." He then said as he turned and started to walk down the hallway. Ino was no longer feeling upbeat and confident. She felt like she was going to cry.

"You are such a fucking jerk Sai!" Ino called after his retreating back.

"You are such an emotionless empty headed jerk!" she then called. She had suddenly lost her appetite.

"Shikamaru was right about him," Ino said.

"I was right about what?"

Ino then turned around. She then saw Shikamaru leaning against Hinata's locker.

"The fact that Sai is an emotionless, empty headed, jerk." Ino then said to him as she started to head somewhere else then the cafeteria. Shikamaru followed after her. Something was wrong and he knew it. He then followed her to the court yard. When she got outside she sat down on the grass underneath a cherry tree. She started to cry. She couldn't believe that Sai called her ugly. Was she really ugly? Her confidence just went out the window. All of the sudden she felt someone presence and turned around to see who it was. To her surprise it was Shikamaru. She bet that he followed her out here. Shikamaru noticed that she was crying. He was right, there was something wrong.

"What do you want?" Ino asked as she quickly wiped her tears. Shikamaru just sat down next to her. He wasn't hungry and besides he wanted to know what's wrong.

"What's wrong?" Shikamaru asked with a concern look on his face.

"Nothing is wrong." She lied.

"Liar, what is the reason you are out here crying?" Shikamaru then asked. She hated it when he is right.

"Sai broke up with me. Also I found out that he never meant it when he called me beautiful. He actually thinks I am ugly." Ino said as she looked away. Shikamaru put his hand on her cheek and turned her head so she was looking at him.

"Don't listen to him. He doesn't know what ugly is. He doesn't even know what a relationship is. He just wasn't the right guy. Like what my mom said just open your eyes. You may be surprise who been in front of you this whole time." He then said with a smile. He then got up.

"Don't change your looks just to impress someone or get someone attention. If you want to impress someone, impress yourself. That's the person you need to impress. Just remember you are perfect just the way you are." Shikamaru then walked away. Leaving Ino to think about what he said. He was right. She was spending too much time on her looks so that she can impress Sai. She hated it when he was right because it made her feel guilty. But she was glad that Shikamaru told those things to her because she actually felt a whole lot better.

When she got home from school, she found her mom in the kitchen baking. The whole house smelled like fresh baked bread. It made her hungry after all she didn't eat lunch. She went upstairs to her room and placed her stuff on her bed. She then slipped off her heels and went back down stairs to talk to her mom in the kitchen.

"Hi mom," Ino said walking into the kitchen.

"Hi honey, how was school?" her mother looked up from kneading a bowl of bread dough.

"It was ok." She then said to her mother as she searched the fridge for something to eat. Unfortunately she couldn't find anything.

"What are you making?" she then asked her mother as she shut the fridge door.

"I am making some homemade dinner rolls for dinner tonight." Her mother then replied as she went back to kneading the bread dough. Her mother never made homemade dinner rolls unless people were coming over for dinner.

"Who is coming over?" she then asked her mother.

"The Akimichis and the Naras." Her mother then said as she put the dough in the baking pan and placed it in the oven.

"Cool a team ten reunion." Ino said as she looked in the cupboards. There has to be something that she could eat. She then closed the cupboard and look down at the counter. Her eyes then landed on an apple. She then picked it up and took a bite.

"You don't sound very happy about it." Her mother then said as she looked at her.

"I am. But I have dance practice tonight." She then said.

"I know that. That's why we are going eat after you get home." Her mother said as she wiped her forehead.

"So did your grades come in the mail today?" her mother then asked.

"No." Technically she wasn't lying. They didn't come in today. She got it last week.

"Too bad I was going to give you forty dollars for your straight A's." her mother said. Every time she get straight A's her mother always give her money so she can go shopping as her reward. Unfortunately that's not going to happen if her mother finds out about her bad grades. She didn't want to tell her. If she did, she knew right away her mother was going to tell her dad about it. Her dad easily gets worked up about it. That's why it was best that she keeps her grades hidden for a while.

"Don't worry about your grades. I bet you got all straight A's. I just wish they were here already so I could give you your reward." Her mother then said.

"No, you really don't." She thought. 

"Class elections are coming up. I thought I'd run for president." She then said changing the subject.

"That's wonderful. That will definitely bring out your leadership qualities. You will make a great president." Her mother smiled.

"What issues are you going to campaign on?" her mother then asked. Issues? What was the point of having issues when all you do is plan dances and fundraisers? No one pays attention to issues.

"I don't know. Maybe better school lunches." She shrugged.

"I'm still thinking about it. Anyways I better go to my room and work on homework. Also get ready for dance practice." She then said as she retreated from the kitchen as fast as she could. After about 3 hours of working on homework, it was time for her to go to dance practice. So she put on a light blue tank top, her purple work out sweats, her purple sweatshirt and her tennis shoes. She then tied her hair up into a ponytail and packed her dance bag. After she was done, she grabbed her dance bag and her keys and headed out the door.


	5. Chapter 5

**Just trying to survive high school **

**Chapter 5- **"we need to work on our routine more." Ino said to her team.

"Your captain is right girls we need to work on it more instead of wasting time arguing or talking to each other." Kurenai their coach told them. After she had her baby and after Asuma died, Kurenai needed something to get her back in shape and get her happy again so she decided to become the coach of the dance team. Her team wasn't that big. But she was still proud of them and love spending her time with them. Plus they were a big help with her baby.

"Also not to pile on more stress but we have a dance competition next month so we need to get our routine done." She also said as she looked at Ino and then at everybody else.

"But Kurenai sensei Temari and I didn't start the argument last time I checked 4 little wannabees did. But I'm not going to be saying names or anything like that," Karin glared at her captain along with Sakura, Hinata and Tenten.

Karin is the popular girl of Konoha high along with Temari. Temari wasn't that bad but Karin she was the bitchiest of all. Karin was prom queen and homecoming queen. She always gets all the guys. She has two boyfriends believe it or not. Wear expensive closes and drives the hottest cars. Karin seems like she is always out to get Ino and her friends. Especially because they got what she wanted which was Sakura dating Sasuke and Ino getting to be captain instead of her. Ino didn't know why Karin was even on the dance team but since she was Ino had to deal with her on a daily basis.

"Hey no pointing fingers. I mean it when I say no arguing" Kurenai shot a warning look at Karin. Karin just rolled her eyes.

"Kurenai sensei it's almost time to go," Hinata told her. Kurenai looked up at the clock.

"Oh yea your right Hinata, We should continue this next practice. I will see you girls on Thursday." Kurenai said as everybody went to the bleachers to pack up their stuff and head home.

"I swear I hate Karin." Sakura muttered under breath as she walked over to Ino.

"Don't we all," Ino said as she grabbed her water bottle and took a drink. She then packed her stuff and headed out of the gym.

As she got home from dance practice she went upstairs to take a shower. After she got done she changed into something nice for the team 10 dinner that was going to happen at her house in a hour. About an hour later there was a knock at the door.

"Ino honey, can you answer that for me?" Ino's mother said as her and Ino was setting up the table.

"Ok" Ino said as she put down the plate. She then went to the door and opened it. As she went to the door that was when she saw the Akimichi's .

"Hi Ino we brought chips and barbeque pork," Chouji said with a big grin on his face. She just smiled and said,

"Of course you bring your favorites,"

The Akimichi's come into the house and said Hi to everybody.

"So do you know when Shikamaru coming over?" she asked Chouji curiously. Chouji sat down on the couch and said,

"He said that his parents will be busy but after they are done they will be right over."

"Ok" she then went back to her mom to help with setting up the table. Ten minutes later there was another knock on the door. Her mom was about to get the door until Ino said

"It's ok mom I will get it. You finish what you were doing." She told her mom and she went to see who it was. Her mom then went back to what she was doing.

"I bet it's the Nara's." she thought. She then opened the door and of course she was right. There standing in the door way was Shikamaru and his mom and Dad. Why is it that every time she sees Shikamaru he is always looking good? She then ignored the thought and let them in.

"Hey come on in" Her dad said as he helped his wife with putting the food on the table. After a great dinner and tons of laughter, the parents decided to go hang out and talk out in the patio in the back yard. Chouji was finishing up the barbeque pork. While Ino and Shikamaru were the only ones in the house. Shikamaru went to the front room. For some reason Ino had an urge to follow him. So that's what she ended up doing. Shikamaru sat down on the couch while Ino sat down on the chair.

"Last time I check I don't bite. So you can join me if you want." Shikamaru said to her with a smirk. He then patted the spot right next to him.

"No thanks" she said as she sticks out her tongue at him jokingly.

"Fine by me, why did you follow me in here anyways?" he asked.

"I just couldn't wait to hang out with you again, I guess. Your charm, wit and kindness just draw people to you." She responded to him sarcastically

Shikamaru just smirked at her response. He was curious why she was being so nice to him even though it was a sarcastic response. Instead of asking why she was being so nice to him he just said,

"Yeah I know."

It occurred to her that for her campaign's sake she should attempt to be nice to Shikamaru. After all he did save her. Besides Shikamaru hung out with the smart kids too and had lots of friends who were potential votes. But she figured out that nice was no good. He'd immediately know she was up to something if she was nice to him. After all he knows her all too well. That was the problem with knowing Shikamaru practically her whole life.

"Should I just count Shikamaru as a loss, or should I strike a deal with him? If I agreed to go on one date with Naruto after prom, then Shikamaru would owe me a large debt of gratitude. Exactly how much campaigning could I extract from a large debt of gratitude? Posters? Buttons? Would he agree with having vote for Ino Yamanaka tattooed on his forehead?" she thought as she laughed about the fact of having Shikamaru tattooed her name on his forehead. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at her. He wonders what was so funny. Ino noticed the weird look that Shikamaru gave her and said,  
"I was thinking about something that was funny if that is why you are looking at me weird."

"Oh ok." He then said in response.

"So um... About Naruto..," Ino said.

"What about him?" he asked curiously.

"I might be willing to do you a favor, if you do one for me first," this made Shikamaru smiled.

"What kind of favor?" he asked.

"I've decided to run for student president, and I'm going to need people to help me campaign-"Ino didn't get any further before Shikamaru's smiled turned into coughs of laughter. She glared at him while she waited for him to stop.

"You could have just said no" she said as she started to storm off upstairs. Shikamaru followed her.

"It's not that I don't want to help you," he said after more coughing.

"It's just the idea of you campaigning is so funny" he then said. Ino turned around and glared.

"You don't think I can campaign?" she asked as she glared at him.

"Ino you can do a lot of things. But to campaign you have to talk to people outside of your little group of friends which you don't do."

"That is not true I do too talk to other people outside my group. I know how to be nice." Ino said as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Ino sorry to say this but you can be just as bad as Karin." This made Ino mad. She couldn't believe he was saying that to her.

"Excuse me don't you dare compare me to her! I am so not like her!" Ino said getting mad.

"In fact you can just forget I ever asked you anything! You can find another way to get your stupid shogi board." She then said. She tried to go to her room but Shikamaru held on to her hand and wouldn't let go.

"I wasn't comparing you to her and I didn't say I wouldn't campaign for you." He then said to her.

"And what a fine campaigner you'd be. I can just imagine your posters. Vote for Ino, she is shallow and mean just like Karin, but an important part of getting me a new shogi board. You can just forget it, Shikamaru." She said as she broke her hand free from his grip.

"Why does she have to be such a troublesome woman?" he thought as he rolled his eyes.

"Shikamaru if you think insulting people is my favorite past time then you're mistaken. It only seems that way to you because you are so easy to be mean to." She said.

"Ino just admit you love insulting me and everyone else." Shikamaru said as he leaned toward her using his height to make a point of looking down at her.

"No I don't." she said.

"All right, you don't agree with me. Fine, let's see if you'll put your money where your caustic little mouth is." He said to her.

"Was that an insult?" she said to him. She wanted to slap him so badly for saying that to her. Still looking down at her he said

"Let's make a bet. I bet you can't go a week without you insulting me or anyone else that comes your way and pisses you off or annoy you. Which I know you can't do so I'm going to enjoy my new shogi board." He smirked.

"And if you win what do I have to do?" she asked.

"You have to go on one date with Naruto."

"And if I win?" she then asked.

"Then I guess I will be your date to prom." He then said. Did he found out that she didn't have a date for prom?

"I already have a date for prom." She lied.

"Liar I heard from someone that you didn't have a date for prom." He then smirked. Damn he found out, but from whom? By the look on her face he knew that he was right.

"So you being my date for prom supposed to be a big reward for me?" she said as she gave Shikamaru a patronizing glare.

"Well I was thinking about it being more of a punishment for me." He lied. It wouldn't be a punishment.

"Fine I guess you can be my date if it gets me out of going on a date with Naruto." She said in defeat.

"But if I do win and since you agree to be my date, then you have to go all out, which means renting a limo, renting a tux and taking me to dinner after wards you name it. Also you have to stand on the school steps passing out flyers and telling everyone to vote for me." She then added.

"Alright you have a bet." He hesitated, but only for a moment.

"I won't insult anyone all of next week. So you better be prepared to pass out flyers and finding a job so you can pay for prom and your shogi board."

"Troublesome woman" he muttered under his breath. By the time they were done talking it was time for the Nara's and the Akimichi's to go home.

Next day during lunch when she was talking to Sakura, Hinata and Tenten, Naruto and Kiba decided to stop by their table.

"Hey Ino, I heard your running for president." Naruto stuck his hands in his pockets and tilted back on his heels.

"You heard right." She then said.

"Well I hope you catch him." Both Naruto and Kiba laughed at this joke.

"You guys are so immature." Sakura said to them.

"You guys are going to vote for me aren't you?" Ino asked them.

"That depends blondie are you going to make it worth our while?" Kiba smirked.

"I think it will be great to have a student body council that runs smoothly. So yes it will probably be worth your while." She then said.

"Tell us more about your student body. I'd like to see it run smoothly." Naruto said with a perverted grin. Sakura pound her fist on the table.

"Would you like to see her student body slap your student body? If you don't I advise you to leave this table Naruto." Sakura glared at him.

"Geez Sakura-chan, why do you have to be so mean?" Naruto asked as him and Kiba walked away.

"I swear they are idiots sometimes." Sakura said as she watched their retreating backs.

"Don't look now but here comes miss homecoming queen," Tenten said as she rolled her eyes. Ino looked behind her and sure enough here comes Karin wearing her short skirt and her low cut shirt. Wearing her long cheery red hair down and wearing her high heels walking past them.

"I swear she has a big attitude." Tenten said.

"Well yea its Karin what do you expect?" Sakura said to Tenten in response.

"She tells everybody that she is going to be a model someday and be on TV. Like that is ever going to happen." She then said.

"Don't look now Sakura-chan because Karin is flirting with Sasuke." Hinata said to Sakura.

"I hate it when she does that I swear she is trying to steal him back from me. I mean why does she do that?" Sakura glared at Karin.

"Because it's one thing or another she is trouble. Cause that's why you need to watch out if you are near cause she will just bring you to tears. She is a bitch that's basically why she does that." Ino said to her. It's a good thing that she doesn't start her and Shikamaru's bet until next week. Or else she would of loss just now.

"Of course here comes her two boyfriends Jugo and Suigetsu and her wannabee Temari following right behind her. I swear they follow her around like she is Aphrodite." Tenten said.

"She and Temari give the dance team a bad reputation." She then said.

"What kind of bad reputation would that be?" Ino asked.

"Apparently everyone thinks the whole dance team is a bunch of sluts by the way she dresses." Tenten responded to Ino.

"Hello the last time I check we don't dress like a hooker." Sakura said.

"I know right. But people are too stupid to notice that." Ino said.

"Anyways let's changed the subject," she then said. But before she could even continue the bell rang so it was time to get to her next class.

"Well I will see you girls later love ya," Ino said as she started to walk away.

"Alright well I'm going to go get my Sasuke-kun back from the beast." Sakura said. Everyone laughed.

"You go do that Sakura-chan." Tenten said as her and Ino started to walk to their next class. They didn't have time to say bye to Hinata because she was already gone for her next class. Hinata never liked being late for class.

"So how are we going to get Naruto to notice Hinata?" Ino asked Tenten as they walked to math.

"I don't know. He is so dense I don't know how in the world we can get him to notice her." Tenten said to her.

"We can't change her looks she is beautiful just the way she is." Ino said.

"Yes that is true. Maybe we can make her more confident when it comes to guys. After all we knocked her out of her stuttering stage. So I bet we can totally help her be more confident." Tenten then said.

"Great idea, oh you better look now because here comes your hot stud name Neji." Ino said to her teasingly while nudging her in the arm.

"Omg he is coming over here. How do I look? I don't have anything on my teeth do I?" Tenten said worryingly. While making sure her hair is ok. Ino laughed.

"Don't worry you look sexy I think he wants to talk to you so you better go talk to him." Ino said to her as she motion Tenten to go over to him. But before she could even do that Neji was already standing right in front of them.

"Hey Tenten," Neji said to Tenten with a sexy smile. Neji was a like a God in Tenten's eyes. He was most good looking guy at Konoha high next to Sasuke. Neji wore a black headband to cover up his mark. He wore his long black hair in a low ponytail. He wore a tight white shirt. When up close you can tell he works out. Also wore black jeans and black and white converse.

"Hi Neji-kun I mean Neji." Tenten blushed. His cologne was making her feel light headed.

"She is cute when she blushes." Neji thought as he smirked.

"I'm going to leave you two alone." Ino said as she secretly walked away. Tenten was too busy ogling over Neji to even notice she walked away.

"So do you have a date for prom?" He asked her as he leaned toward her. She never noticed that her back was against the lockers. That was how close he was to her.

"Unfortunately no not yet," Tenten said to him in response.

"Well I think you and I should go together." He smiled.

"So are you asking me to prom?" Tenten asked him. Well no duh? She couldn't believe she just said something stupid like that. She blushed in embarrassment.

"Yes I am asking you to go to prom with me." He nodded his head.

"Ok sure I will love to go with you." Tenten smiled.

"Cool I will see you later." He said as he winked at her and walked away.

"Did that just happen? I think it did. I can't wait to tell Ino. Oh crap got to get to class." Tenten thought as she hurried to class.


	6. Chapter 6

**Just trying to survive high school **

**Chapter 6- **"where is she? She is going to be late if she doesn't show up." Ino thought as she waited for Tenten. Tenten slipped into class before the bell ringed. She then went to her seat which was right next to Ino.

"Just in time," Ino told her.

"I know right." Tenten said as she got out her math book. Ino wondered what Tenten and Neji talked about.

"So how did things go with Neji?" Ino whispered.

"Great. He asked me to prom." Tenten said with huge smile on her face.

"Omg no way," Ino said as she got out her math book.

"Yes way. I'm so happy." Tenten said.

"I bet I would be too if I were you." Ino smiled.

"Speaking of dates did anybody ask you yet?" Tenten ask. Ino wasn't sure if she wanted to tell her about the dare.

"No," she lied. Well actually she wasn't lying because no one did ask her.

"Oh well someone will ask you soon don't worry," Tenten said in response.

"Well if I win the bet then I will get a date to the prom," Ino thought as she started to take notes. She was glad that Tenten got a date. She knew that Tenten always had a major crush on Neji. She knew that Tenten been waiting for Neji to make a move for a long time and he finally did. I bet after prom they will be official.

"Tenten is going with Neji and Sakura of course is going with Sasuke. So that means Hinata and I are the only ones who don't have a date for prom. Well I guess Hinata and I need to work our butts off in order to get ourselves a date." She thought as she looked out the window for a bit. Ino already knew how to get a date and at the moment she didn't cared who she went with. She just wants to go to her senior prom before she graduates. That's if she graduates.

**After school-**

Finally after surviving her last two classes it was time to go home. As she was heading to her locker, she walked past Sai and Temari making out. It just goes to show you how fast he moves on. Temari was a whore anyways she belonged with a jerk like him (a/n: yes in this story Temari is mean. Doesn't mean I hate her.) She didn't care if Temari was with him. She moves on quickly too. She also saw Karin making out with Suigetsu. Just goes to show you that she is a whore too. Ino just kept on walking to her locking ignoring the whole make out sessions.

"I swear do they have to make out in public it is bad enough they give the dance team a bad reputation." Ino muttered under her breath has she got out the books she needed and grabbed her purse.

"I hate it when people make out in public. If they want to make out they should just go somewhere else." A female voice said to her. Ino looked up to see Sakura shaking her head at the sight she was seeing.

"At least Sasuke and I don't do that in public." Sakura then said.

"Yea that is true. So did you get Sasuke back after lunch?" Ino asked her.

"Yea it was funny when Sasuke saw me coming he just pushed her aside like she wasn't even there. He walked over and said Thank God pinkie you saved me and he kissed me. He is so adorable. The look on Karin face was priceless." Sakura said as she grabbed her stuff out of her locker.

"That is funny." Ino said. She then shut her locker.

"Oh did you hear from Tenten any exciting news?" she then asked Sakura as they were heading to the parking lot. Before Sakura could even reply, here came bubbly Tenten coming towards them with Hinata.

"Sakura guess what?" Tenten said excitedly.

"What?" Sakura asked.

"Neji asked me to prom!" Tenten then said.

"Omg no way!" Sakura said excitedly.

"Congrats Tenten, I'm so happy for you!" she then said as she hugged Tenten.

"Now all we have to do is get you two a date," Sakura added as she looked at Ino and Hinata.

"I'm working on that we need to worry about Hinata." Ino said to Sakura.

"You guys don't have to worry about me. I don't have to go to prom." Hinata said. Tenten, Sakura and Ino all shook their heads.

"You have to go to your senior prom Hinata." Ino said to her.

"Besides Ino and I figure out what we can do to get Naruto to notice you." Tenten said.

"Really?" Hinata and Sakura both asked.

"Yup," Tenten and Ino both replied.

"How?" Sakura asked them.

"Well we are definitely not going to change your looks Hinata. Cause you are beautiful just the way you are." Ino said to Hinata.

"Thanks Ino-Chan" Hinata said to Ino.

"But a new outfit doesn't hurt so we can go shopping today and look for a great outfit for you." Ino then said.

"Don't we have dance practice today?" Sakura asked.

"No that's tomorrow." Ino said to her.

"Oh yea that's right. I forgot." Sakura laughed.

"Wait is that all we are going to do to get the knuckle head to notice her?" she then asked.

"No. you, me and Ino are going to teach Hinata how to be more confident when it comes to guys." Tenten said.

"So we are basically going to teach her how to flirt with guys?" Sakura asked.

"Yup pretty much," Ino said.

"That I can help with," Sakura said with a smile. They then turned to look at Hinata.

"Is everything alright with you Hinata?" Sakura asked.

"Yes." Hinata said.

"Alright, let's go shopping then!" Sakura said.

"Along as I'm back in time to work my shift in the flower shop then it's fine by me," Ino said.

"We will probably be done by then." Tenten said.

"So did all of you drive here?" Ino asked. She was curious if any of them needed a ride.

"No my car was being a pain in the butt this morning and didn't want to start. So I hitched a ride with Sakura." Tenten said. Tenten had a dark red Toyota Corolla that had starter problems. It always broke down at the wrong time and at the wrong place. If her car had starter problems Ino would be hitching a ride too.

"The same except I hitched a ride with Neji." Hinata said. Now Hinata's car didn't have much starter problems. She had a black Lincoln it was a nice car. But also was Tenten's Toyota Corolla. But on the way to the mall one day it broke down and so she had to call her dad to get a tow truck. So Hinata was getting rides with Neji to school.

"Didn't Neji work on cars?" Ino asked.

"Yea he is working on mine." Hinata said.

"Ooh can he fix mine?" Tenten asked Hinata.

"Yea I bet he can. You just have to ask him." Hinata said to Tenten.

"Ok," Tenten smiled.

"Well if you want I can give you a ride to the mall Hinata. Just tell Neji that you are going to mall and going to get a ride with me." Ino said.

"I can tell him if you want," Tenten said eagerly.

"Of course give Tenten an excuse to talk to her man candy." Sakura said.

"It's ok Tenten I can tell him myself." Hinata said to Tenten.

"Aww," Tenten pouted jokingly. Everyone laughed.

"Sorry Tenten." Ino laughed as she patted her best friend's shoulder.

"I will go find him and ask him." Hinata told them.

"Can I go with?" Tenten said with a huge smile.

"I can ask if he can fix my car," she then added.

"Sure" Hinata smiled as her and Tenten went to go look for her cousin. So it was Just Ino and Sakura.

"Hey I forgot I parked right next to you." Ino said as she saw her purple Mazda Miata right next to Sakura's red mustang convertible.

"Haha yea you did." Sakura said noticing that her car was right next to Ino's.

"I'm not the only one who parked next to you. Apparently Sasuke-kun did too." Ino said as she pointed out Sasuke's dark blue Camaro that was right next to Sakura's car. It didn't felt weird calling Sasuke 'Sasuke-kun' because she was used to calling him that. But if you think that Sakura was going to get mad if some other girl calls him that well she doesn't care as along as all the girls know that Sasuke is Sakura's territory.

"Apparently someone else is parked right next to my Sasuke-kun," Sakura stared across the parking lot at the Mercedes Benz that was parked right next to Sasuke's car.

Ino was confused about what she said until she saw what Sakura was looking at. She saw Karin sitting in her black Mercedes Benz convertible with Temari and of course Suigetsu and Jugo sitting in the back. She bet that she was waiting for Sasuke.

"Why does she have to park right next to Sasuke-kun? It pisses me off." Sakura said as she was about ready to go punch Karin in the face.

"Calm down Sakura-chan. Besides if she does flirts with Sasuke he will just dis her like you said he did during lunch." Ino told her.

"True. But I still don't get why she flirts with Sasuke when she has a boyfriend. I mean two boyfriends. But to be honest I never seen Karin make out with Jugo. I always had seen her make out with Suigetsu." Sakura said. Sakura had a point. Ino never saw Karin make out with Jugo. But the thing was Karin was a big flirt and likes to get with any guy that she can. So it was no wonder she flirts with Sasuke. (A/n: I don't hate Karin. I just don't like it when she flirts with Sasuke. I think she is better with Suigetsu. SuiKa forever 3)

"She is a big flirt you should know that by now." Ino told her. Before Sakura could reply to what Ino said Tenten and Hinata came back from finding Neji.

"Neji-san said it was alright if I get a ride with you to the mall." Hinata told Ino.

"Plus he said he will help me fix my car," Tenten said with a huge grin.

"Well that's good to know. Maybe he can take you to school every morning instead of me doing it." Sakura said jokingly.

"Funny Sakura just wait till your little red mustang breaks down you will need me to come pick you up." Tenten said as she sticks out her tongue at her. Sakura just sticks out her tongue at Tenten in response.

"Hey can we go shopping now instead of standing around?" Ino asked her friends.

"Yea let's go. Hinata are you going to ride with me or with Ino?" Sakura looked at Hinata.

"Umm... I don't really care who I get a ride with... I guess I will go with Ino-Chan," Hinata said as she followed Ino to her car.

"Alright fine by me come on Tenten you are riding with me," Sakura said to Tenten as she walked to her car and unlocked the doors. Tenten laughed.

"Oh now you want to give me a ride I see how it is Sakura."

"Oh would you just shut up and get in," Sakura laughed. She then pressed the button to put the top down of her car.

"You better put your shades on Tenten." She looked at Tenten.

"I'm already on it." Tenten said as she put on her shades.

Ino was also putting the top down of her car and was putting on her shades. She looked at her rearview mirror to put on her lip gloss but to her surprise she saw Shikamaru pulled right up behind them so she couldn't back out. Shikamaru then honk his horn to get her attention. Ino turned around and looked at him annoyed.

"Um do you mind Shikamaru? I'm trying to put some lip gloss on and I would like to back out soon to go to the mall."

She then looked in Sakura's direction to see if she drove off without her but to her surprised she was still there chatting it up with Sasuke. Besides Shikamaru's dark green Eagle Talon was blocking their way so they couldn't back up.

"My mom wanted to know if you can help her with some gardening tomorrow?" he asked ignoring what she said.

"Do you have to ask me this now?" she asked him annoyed.

"Yup, because I just love bugging you." he smirked. It was true he did love bugging her just to see her reaction. Ino sighed annoyed.

"What time tomorrow? Cause I have dance practice and I have tons of homework to do so I need to know an exact time." She said.

"She said some time after you get done with dance practice."

He waited for her response. He knew that she would say yes cause flower arranging and gardening was her favorite past time next to dance.

"I guess I could come over after dance practice. But why does she need help with gardening?"

Yup he was right she did say yes except for the fact she actually said I guess I could come over which translated into yes. So yea he was right.

"My mom got some new flowers for my family's back yard and so she wanted a Yamanaka input."

"No I think she wants a girl to visit since she is stuck with two men who won't get off their lazy butts and help her." It was a good thing she didn't say that out loud. Besides if she was stuck with only boys and no girls she knew for damn sure she would want a girl to talk to and have them help her. Yoshino was practically liked her second mom and so she was wondering if she would have any flirting advice that she could give Hinata.

"Tell your mom I would help her after dance practice." She then told him.

"Alright I will tell her. See you later." He smirked. Sooner or later she is going to slap that smirk off his face. She then turned around and in the rearview mirror she could see Shikamaru driving away.

"Are we ready to go Ino pig?" Sakura asked.

"Yes we are ready to go billboard brow," she told her as she buckle up and turned on the ignition.

**At the mall- **

"So now that we are here. Which store should we go to first?" Ino asked as she and her friends walked into the mall. The Konoha mall was one of her favorite places. But Konoha didn't always have a mall. When they were re- building Konoha Tsunade decided that Konoha should take all the little shops and combine it into one big shopping area. So that's what they end up doing and she had to admit it was an awesome idea.

"There are so many stores in this mall it's hard to choose from," Sakura said as she took off her sunglasses and placed them into her purse. Sakura was right there were too many stores in Konoha mall to choose from. Konoha mall was huge after all it had five floors and all around in a circle was stores and in the middle there were escalators so you can go up to the next floor. So if you stand at the bottom floor by the escalators and look up, you can see straight up to the top floor.

"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm thirsty," Tenten said to them.

"Yea I agree with Tenten-chan. I would like to buy an Iced Chai Tea Latte," Hinata said agreeing with Tenten.

"Alright let's go to the MoMo café then," Ino said.

"Which is on the second floor right?" she then asked sometimes she forgets where certain stores are at.

"Yes I should know because I work there," Tenten said as she shook her head up and down.

It was true Tenten did work at the MoMo café. It wasn't her favorite place to work at but she needed money for college and pay for her car so she needed a job and at the time they were the only ones who were hiring. So she applied for the job besides she also gets employee discounts on drinks, which is good for her and her friends. As they reached the second floor they walked over to the to the MoMo café which was on the right side where the food court was, as they walked in the saw Rock Lee believe it or not.

"Hey I forgot that Lee worked here." Ino said.

"Yea so did I. I hope he doesn't flirt with me." Sakura then whispered. They then walked up the counter where Lee was currently at behind the counter. He looked up at them with a huge grin.

"What can I get for you four lovely ladies?" Lee asked them with a grin.

"Gives us four iced chai tea lattes please," Tenten told him.

"Coming right up Tenten my dear," He then said as he went to go make their iced chai tea lattes.

"Thanks Lee." Tenten said as she thanked him. They then went to go sit down to wait for their drinks.

"The drinks are on me," she then added.

"Sweet thanks Tenten." Ino said.

"No prob." Tenten then said. About ten minutes passed and their drinks were ready. So Tenten got up and pay for them. As her team mate helped her carry the drinks to the table her friends were sitting at.

"Mmm Iced Chai tea latte my favorite," Ino said as she took a sip of her drink. It's been a while since she had an iced chai tea latte. She then watched Lee put the drinks on the table. She then saw Tenten sit down in front of her. Sakura sat right next to Tenten while Hinata sat next to her.

"Well hello my beautiful cherry blossom, how you been?" Lee asked Sakura with a flirty grin on his face. Sakura shuddered. Ino watched her and notice that she was trying to figure out something nice to say. But Tenten of course saved her butt.

"Lee quit flirting with Sakura. She has a boyfriend if you haven't noticed." Tenten told him and Sakura looked at her and mouthed 'Thank you.'

"Yea I know but one day I shall when your heart my beautiful cherry blossom!" Lee said ignoring half of what Tenten said.

"Lee get back to work," Tenten said getting a little annoyed.

"Alright I'm going," Lee then said as he walked away from them.

"One bad thing about working here is that I have to deal with Karin on a daily basis." Tenten then said to them.

"Karin works here?" her friends asked her with a shock look on their faces.

"No if she did I would kill myself." Tenten then said.

"Besides she wouldn't be caught dead working here." She then said.

"So what do you mean that you have to deal with her on a daily basis?" Hinata asked.

"She is a regular customer and she always buys the same kind a drink." She then told her.

"Let me a guess a non-fat sugar free Mochochini?" Sakura asked as she looked at Tenten.

"Ding ding we have a winner," Tenten said. Everyone laughed.

"One day she came into the café and unfortunately I was working. So she comes up to the counter and says "Oh hi Tenten I didn't know you work here." She said that all snobby and I said "yes unfortunately I do. What can I get for you?" I didn't know why I asked that when I knew she was going to order the exact same thing. She told me the usual so I went to go make her drink and I came back with her drink and asked her if she wanted to get a discount card because that's what we have to ask the customers and she like "um No thanks. Just give it to me now Tenten you can keep the receipt." She told her friends.

"Demanding much," Ino said.

"Yea she is. I swear there were days I wanted to back hand her." Tenten said.

"Now that would be a sight to see. Tenten back handing someone," Sakura laughed.

"Well I'm done," Ino said.

"Are you girls done?" she then asked as she got up and walked over to the trash can.

"Yea I'm done," Sakura said as she also got up. Tenten and Hinata did the same.

The girls spend the rest of their time at the mall finding a couple of cute outfits for Hinata along with finding some for themselves. They had fun laughing and trying on tons of things. By the time they were done it was time to go home. So Ino took Hinata home, while Sakura took Tenten home.

"Hey Hinata-chan you should come over to my house on Friday so I can do your hair. We will even invite Sakura and Tenten." Ino told Hinata as she drove to Hinata's house.

"Ok. I will ask my father tonight." Hinata told to Ino as they reached her house. They saw Neji's black Lamborghini parked in front of the house.

"Well looks like Neji is home," Ino said as she pulled up to Hinata's drive way. Hinata grabbed her stuff and got out of the car.

"Yup, see ya later Ino-chan! Thanks for taking me shopping!" Hinata said.

"No prob! Bye Hinata-chan!" Ino then said as she pulled out of the drive way and headed home.


	7. Chapter 7

**Just trying to survive high school **

**Chapter 7-** "Well I guess it's time to do my shift at the shop," Ino thought as she walked into the shop. To her surprise she saw her dad organizing phone orders. He looked up at her with a smile.

"Hello my precious little flower how was school?" she didn't mind when her father called her that. Most teenage daughters would hate it when their fathers call them childish nicknames. But she wasn't that kind of girl.

"It was ok. The same as usual," Ino said to her father as she walked into the back room and put her apron on. She then came back and placed her purse underneath the counter.

"Wait I thought mom was working tonight?" she then asked.

"She was until she came home and told me to finish the rest of the phone orders. She didn't tell me there was going to be piles of them. But I guess that's why she also told me that when you come and work your shift, you will finish the rest." He told her as he kept organizing phone orders.

"Well I guess can take over then." She told her father.

"Alright I have to go run a few errands so I leave the rest to you honey. All you have to do is arrange them from last names in alphabetical order. Make sure to lock up when you're done," he told her as he got up and went to the back room and put away his apron. So Ino took his place at the counter.

"Gosh there are so many orders I feel overwhelmed just looking at them," Ino thought as she sat down and started to arrange them.

"Bye honey," her father said as he walked past her and walked out the door.

"Bye daddy," she said in response.

After about an hour of organizing she was starting to get bored. So she walked over to the radio and turned on some music. Since she was alone she always had time to think about things. But for some reason her mind kept drifting to what Sai said to her the other day. Why is it she could never find the right guy? While she was being depressed about the whole issue, the perfect song called No reins by Rascal Flatts came on radio. *= song lyrics.

*she left that loser in a dust cloud. Heart in his hands, chin on the ground. Cried her last tear for that clown, she can see a little clearer now. She said 'oh, oh I got to go and find me.' Oh, oh she found the strength to break free.*

"I'm starting to like this song." She said as she walked back over to the radio and turned it up, and then went back to the counter.

*Like a painted wild mustang, flying across the open range. Finally gets to live her life that way. No fear, No fences, nobody no reins*

The song started to cheer her up right away. She noticed when she is happy she gets things done faster. She noticed she was almost done with the rest of the phone orders.

*All she ever felt is held back. She said 'it's kind of nice to hear myself laugh.' She's going to do a lot more of that, She making plans and making tracks.*

"Yes I agree with that," she said to herself agreeing to the lyrics. She noticed that now that she is single, she is free as can be just like the song talks about. When the chorus came on she started to dance and sing to it while she organized.

Since his mother was bugging him to get off his butt to go buy a bag of soil, Shikamaru was sent off to the Yamanaka flower shop to go get it. As Shikamaru walked into the flower shop, he saw Ino singing to a country song while just being silly. By the looks of it, Ino didn't notice he walked in. He smirked as he watched her dance. She looked so free. He loved seeing her that way.

"For a troublesome woman you sure no how to dance," Ino heard a male voice said to her. She stopped dancing immediately and her face went deep red. By the way they said troublesome woman, she knew exactly who walked in. She turned around and saw Shikamaru standing there.

"How long has he been standing there? This is so embarrassing!" she thought embarrassed. She then calmly and collectively sat back down on the stool that she was sitting on behind the counter.

"Oh don't stop now I can totally use this for blackmail," Shikamaru said to her with a smirk as he walked up to the counter.

"What do you need Shikamaru?" Ino asked ignoring what he said. She was in too much of a good mood to let Shikamaru ruin it.

"A bag of potting soil for my mother to get her to stop nagging," He said to her. Ino then got up and went to the other back room where they store the fertilizers and other soils. She then grabbed one of the bags of potting soils and went back.

"Maybe if you got off your lazy ass maybe she wouldn't be nagging you," Ino said to him with a smirk as she handed him the bag of potting soil.

"Keep that up and I will definitely get my new shogi board." He smirked back as he leaned over the counter towards her. He then placed the money on the counter.

"Good luck with that cause all of next week I won't be insulting anyone," she said as she handed him his change.

"Don't be thinking about insulting people when I'm not around. Because I'm going to employ spies," he said as he walked toward the door.

"Fine, employ away." That's all Shikamaru heard as he walked out the door.

"Ugh I can't believe him. I'm definitely going to win that bet. At this moment I don't even care that I go to prom with Shikamaru. There is no way I'm going to let him get what he wants." She thought as she finished the rest of the phone orders. When she was heading to her car, she got a text. So she stopped and dig through her purse for her phone. It was a text message from Hinata. It said:

"Sorry Ino-chan, but I can't come over after school tomorrow. My father decided to make Neji-san and I busy tomorrow for some odd reason. He said I can come over on Saturday if that is alright with you. I can even drive there since Neji-san fixed my car. "

"It's ok. I'm going to be busy after dance practice anyways. Saturday is fine by me. We can even invite Sakura and Tenten. That is great that your car is now fixed. " Ino then replied back as she got into her car. She then drove home. Once she got home, she went upstairs and placed her shopping bags on the floor, Along with her purse and her books.

"Ugh I forgot I had homework. I better do it now." She thought as she got out her books. When she was doing that she got a text from Hinata. It said:

"Ok that would be great. Yea I am glad my car is fixed because I feel like a burden to Neji-san for making him give me a ride to school every day."

"You girls can even spend the night on Sunday too! " Ino replied back. So she spent the rest of her night texting Hinata and doing homework, basically decided to pull an all-nighter.

**The next day-**

Ino woke up Thursday morning at 5 AM to the sound of annoying beeping coming from her alarm clock right next to her.

"Ugh I am way too sleepy to get up," she thought lazily as she reached to shut the alarm off.

"I will just sleep in for an hour and wake up," she thought as she buried her head underneath her blanket. She then looked at her alarm clock.

"Yea that sounds like a good idea," she then thought as she fell back to sleep. Well unfortunately for her, sleeping in for an hour was a bad idea, because one hour got turned into five hours. Before she knew it, her sleep was interrupted by her mother coming into her room and freaking out about how she wasn't up and ready for school and that she should have been up by five hours ago and that she needs to hurry up and get ready, because she was late for school.

"Okaasan it's only five am. How could I have slept in for five hours? It doesn't make any sense." she mumbled but apparently her mother didn't hear her because that was when she went out of her room.

"Yea I was right it's…" she looked at her clock to see if she was right. But unfortunately for her she was not right.

"NINE AM?" she thought shockingly. She tried to blink twice to see if she was just dreaming it but she wasn't.

"I am late! School started at eight!" she thought frantically as she rushed out of bed and start to dig through her closet for something to wear.

"I can't believe I slept in for five hours! I never been late for school before!" she finally found a pair of jeans to wear and a t-shirt. She then hurriedly put them on. She then grabbed her purple converses and her purple sweatshirt that had the Konoha symbol on it in white and put them on. Then she grabbed all her stuff and frantically run downstairs and went out the door.

"Keys, where did I put them?" she thought as she frantically digs through her purse. Today was going to be a bad day she just knew it.

"Here they are," she thought as her eyes landed on her keys. She grabbed her keys and got into the car. But to her surprise her car just wouldn't start.

"Why isn't it starting?" she thought as she kept turning the key, but gave up after her car still wouldn't start.

"Great, stupid car. Wait I can just magically appear there," she thought. (A/n: sorry I don't remember what the jutsu is called to do that -_-) as she tried to muster up all the chakra she had. But she ended up being low on chakra all due to her lack of sleep.

"This sucks oh well I will just have to run to school," she said as she put her keys back in her bag and started to run to school.

**At Konoha high- **

"Hey have you seen Ino this morning?" Sakura asked Tenten as they were sitting in their science class.

"I didn't see her in history class." Tenten then said. Her eyes wandered over by the door where Neji walked in.

"Maybe she is sick," Hinata said. Sakura then looked at her.

"Ino never misses school." Sakura said to her.

"Well maybe Ino-chan is late," Hinata then said.

"Ino, late? You got to be kidding me Hinata, Ino is never late, right Tenten?" Sakura said. But Tenten was off to Neji land. Sakura then nudged her with her hand.

"Tenten are you even listening?" she asked, but no response from Tenten.

"Great we lost her to Neji land," Sakura thought.

**Meanwhile with Ino- **

Ino was almost to the high school. She just had one more block to go. She hated the fact that she lived on the other side of town. This is when she wishes that Konoha was back to the way it was before. Just a small village and not one big city like it is now. Forget calling Konoha village hidden in the leaves. It was now like a city hidden in the leaves.

"Finally I'm here." Ino thought as she raced up the steps of her school. She then went into the school and headed to the office. Coming out of the office was there principle Tsunade. She looked up at her and crossed her arms.

"Ino wa, anata ga chodo ima okurete kita nodesu ka?" Tsunade asked her in Japanese. Which translated into 'Ino, did you just came late just now?' after all they do live in Japan. (a/n: I am practicing my Japanese since I am learning it.)

"Why is she speaking to me in Japanese?" she thought being very tired.

"Oh yea that's right duh we live in Japan. Gosh I am way too tired to focus." Ino thought, as Tsunade looked at her waiting for her answer.

"Hai, watashideshita."( yes, I did.) Ino said as she looked down at the floor.

"Watashi wa tokuni kaikin kiroku o motte iru hito kara, anata kara no kono tane no dosa o kitai shite inakatta to omoimasu." (I'd never expected this kind of behavior from you, especially from someone who has a perfect attendance record.) Tsunade said to her. Well her perfect attendance record just went down the drain.

"Watashi wa tsujo, Naruto de wa nai koto kara, kono dosa o kitai shitai."(I'd usually expect this kind of behavior from Naruto not you) she then continued.

"Great, she is comparing me to Naruto." Ino thought. She bowed apologetically and said,

"Watashi wa Tsunade-sama ga totemo zan'nendesu. Watashi wa kohan ni futabi naru shukan o yakusoku shimasu." Ino said which translated into 'I am so sorry that I am late Tsunade-sama. I promise I won't be late again.'

"Yoi. Anata wa yori yoi, sono yakusoku ni ikiru. Kon ofisu ni ikuto Shizune-sama kara no pasu o shukotoku suru."(Good. You better live up to that promise. Now go to the office and get a pass from Shizune-sama) Tsunade said as she walked down the hallway. That is what she did she went to the office and to get a pass. Plus she is going to live up to that promise of not coming to school late.

"A ohayo Ino-chan, anata dake no kohan ni ima no gakko ni kita nodesu ka?," (oh good morning Ino-chan, did you just come to school late just now?) Shizune asked as she looked up at her.

"Hai." Ino said. I bet everyone is going to ask why she is late.

"Well that's a shame. You had a perfect good attendance record." Shizune said to her as she wrote down a pass for her. (a/n: I'm making it like they speak english once in a while cause I don't know a whole lot of Japanese.)

"Well that's down the drain. My day didn't start good." Ino said to her as Shizune handed her the pass.

"Well I hope that it doesn't get worst," Shizune said.

"Yea me too," Ino said as she walked out the door and to her second period class. As she walked into her second period class which was science as she slide the door open and walked in everybody stared at her like she just killed someone. That was when her teacher Anko-sensei turned and looked at her.

"Yamanaka wa osoku narimasu." (Yamanaka you are late) Anko-sensei said to her. (a/n: since Konoha is now a modern Japan the teachers speak in Japanese in this story. But everyone else talk to each other in English like the main characters. Oh also in this story they don't wear uniforms so that is the only difference. Plus the dance coach speaks in English.)

"Hai, watashi wa shitte iru." Ino said. (yes, I know.)

"This is so embarrassing," she thought as she could feel everybody eyes on her.

"Watashi wa chikoku o yonin suru yo ni oboete inai. Ima sugu anata no seki ni itte kudasai."( I don't tolerate lateness so remember that, now please go to your seat.) Anko-sensei said to her as she turned back to the board Ino then went to her seat. As she walked by Temari and Karin they were snickering at her.

"Gosh what is there problem?" she thought as she sat down at her seat. Hinata sat next to her on her left and Shikamaru was on her right while Tenten was in front of her and Sakura was in front of Hinata.

"Why are you late? You are never late." Sakura whispered to her as she turned and looked at her.

"I pulled an all-nighter on a school night. Worst idea ever." Ino said to her as she put her head down on the table but looked up when Shikamaru looked at her and said something about her hair and laughed.

"Sakura give me your mirror," Ino said to her. Sakura then dig through her bag for her mirror and handed it to her. As she looked at the mirror she could see why Karin and Temari were laughing at her. She forgot to do her hair this morning so it was a total mess. Plus she forgot to do her makeup.

"This is so embarrassing!" she thought she then turned to look at her friends.

"Why didn't you guys say anything about the fact that I looked like a mess?" she then asked them.

"Because we just barely notice like right now," Tenten said to her.

"Yea here I will give you my brush so you can brush your hair." Sakura said as Ino handed back her mirror. She then got out her brush then handed it to her.

"Thanks." Ino said as she started to brush her hair. After she brushed it she put it back up into a pony tail.

" Kore wa, utsukushi-sa no kurasu de wa arimasen. So hanarete Ino ke no mono o oku." (This is no beauty class, so put the hair stuff away Ino.) Anko-sensei said not turning away from the board.

"Geez does she have eyes in the back of her head or something?" Ino thought as she gave back the brush to Sakura.

After science class her day just got worst. During her third period class which was PE she got in trouble for not changing into her gym clothes on time plus she fell on her face when they were running around the track. She ended up tripping on her shoelaces. Then during lunch she got a grease stain on her favorite shirt. During math she fell asleep during the test and now she had to take it after school. Let's just say the rest of her classes didn't go too well either.

**After school-**

"Jikai wa, watashi no kurasu no naka ni nyu nemari suru koto wa arimasen. Tokuni tesuto-chu." (Next time don't be falling asleep during my class. Especially during a test.) Iruka-sensei said to her as Ino handed him her test.

"Hai watashi wa rikai. Watashi wa sono jikai Iruka-sensei o oboete irudarou. Watashi wa shaken o sai juken sa seru itadaki, arigato gozaimasu." (Yes I understand. I will remember that next time Iruka-sensei. Thank you for letting me retake the test.) Ino said to him.

"Anata no kangei. A! mo shukudai wa chodo anata ga watashi ga iru koto o setsumei shita toki ni nemutte itanode anata ga shitte iru yo ni kon'ya wa arimasen."(Your welcome, Oh there is no homework tonight just to let you know since you were asleep when I was explaining that) Iruka-sensei then said.

"Ok o watashi ni itte kurete arigato gozaimasu. Sayonara Iruka-sensei." (Ok thank you for telling me. Goodbye Iruka-sensei.) Ino said as she walked out of the class room.

"Finally I get to go home." Ino thought as she walked down the hallway and out of the school building.

"Oh yea that's right I have to walk home." she thought as she didn't see her car in the parking lot. As she was about to start walking home a green eagle talon drove to the front of the steps. To her surprise she knew who it was.

By the way Ino's car wasn't in the parking lot Shikamaru knew she might be needing a ride plus she overheard her talking to Sakura about retaking a math test after school so he decided to wait till she was done so he could give her a ride. Besides it was the least he can do for her since she had a bad day.

"Get in I will take you home," Shikamaru said to her with a warm smile.

"Did he wait the whole time after school just to give me a ride?" she thought. If she wanted to she would have told him no but by how tired she was there was no way she was going to say no to him. So she climbed into the passenger seat of his car.

"How did you know I was staying after school?" she asked him as she shut the door and buckle the bottom belt. To her surprised the shoulder strap came sliding down as she shut the door. This is how you can tell that she never been his car before.

"I overheard you telling Sakura that you had to stay after school. Plus since I didn't see your car in the parking lot I thought I could offer you a ride." Shikamaru said to her as he drove out of the parking lot.

"Thanks I appreciate it." Ino smiled. After having a bad day she was happy that Shikamaru would care enough to give her a ride home.

"You're welcome. So why didn't you drove to school this morning?" Shikamaru asked not taking his eyes off the road.

"My car wouldn't start." Ino told him as she laid her head back on the head rest and looked out the window.

"That is always such a drag. Once we get to your house I can take a look at your car and see what is wrong if you want." He offered.

"Sure I don't care," she said. About ten minutes passed and they were at her house.

"Oh I almost forgot about the fact I got dance practice." She thought out loud.

"Well you go and get ready. While I will go see if I can get your car to start," Shikamaru told her while he pulled into her drive way and put his car in park. Ino then got out of the car.

"Oh you will be needing these," Ino said as she tossed her keys to Shikamaru. She then went into her house and went to her room to change her clothes. Ino then came back outside wearing black short sweat shorts, a purple tank top and white tennis shoes. She then went to the garage to see Shikamaru bent over the front of her car with the hood up.

"So do you know how to get it to start?" Ino asked startling him. He ended up bumping his head on the hood.

"No and don't startle me like that you troublesome woman," he said to her as he rubbed his head and he then took a look at her.

"Why are you wearing short shorts and a tank top when it's cold outside?" He asked her. He had to admit she did look hot.

"Cause when you're dancing you get hot and sweaty." She said in response.

"Well I can't figure out why your car isn't starting. You might need to get a new starter but I am not really sure. You should get Neji to come out and fix it." He said changing the subject.

"Great. How am I supposed to get to dance practice?" she asked.

"I could take you," he offered as he wipes his hands on his jeans. He didn't care if they got dirty.

"You sure?" she asked. He already gave her ride a home.

"Yea I don't care. I will even come pick you up." He said.

"You don't have to pick me up I can walk," she told him.

"Sorry not going to let you do that especially what happened last time when you decided to walk home," he said with a serious look on his face. A flash back of what happened that night flashed through her mind.

"Ok you can pick me up," she said in defeat.

"Ok then I will pick you up." He said as he tossed Ino's keys back to her.

"What time do you need to be at dance practice?" he asked her.

"I need to be there by six," she told him. He then looked at his watch.

"Well it's five thirty so we should get going," he said as he looked back up at her.

"Ok," she said. They then got back into his car and drove back to the high school.

"I get done at 7:30. So that's when you need to come pick me up." Ino said as they got to the high school.

"Alright I will don't worry," he told her as he watched Ino got out of his car. He was debating whether or not he should go home but he thought it was too troublesome to go home when he had to come right back. So he decided to park his car and just took a nap until she was done.

Meanwhile Ino made her way to the school gym. As she was walking in, she saw Sakura and Tenten stretching while talking to each other so she walked over to them and put her dance bag on the bottom bleacher seat where everyone else put their stuff.

"Hi Ino-chan. How did your math test go?" Hinata asked as she walked up to Ino and place her dance bag down on the seat too. Ino turned and looked at her.

"It went well. It was pretty easy. I just hated the fact that I had to stay after school to retake it. I never had to retake a test before," Ino said to her as they walked over to Sakura and Tenten. As they were stretching, Karin and Temari walked by them.

"Oh Ino I'm glad you came to dance practice on time. By the way I just loved your hair this morning. I thought it was good grunge look for you," Karin said to her and then laughed as her and Temari walked away.

"Grrrr.." Ino said as she tried to ignore her rude comment.

"Just ignore them Ino. If you show her that it affects you it's only going to make her feel good." Tenten said.

"I know but still she just finds a little mistake to bug me about," Ino said to her.

"That's just what she does. She walks all over people." Sakura said.

As Kurenai- sensei walked in it was time to start practice. The rest of practice actually went alright for her. By the time they were done it was 7:30 and it was time to go home. So she headed outside of the school and like he promise there was Shikamaru ready to pick her up.

"Since when is Shikamaru picking you up? Don't tell me are you guys dating?" Sakura said to Ino with a smirk on her face.

"No are you crazy we are not dating!" Ino said.

"My car is having starting problems so he offered to give me a ride," she then said.

"uh huh suure don't deny it." Sakura said.

"Besides someone else likes him," Ino said as she saw Temari flirting with Shikamaru. Somehow it made her feel jealous and she didn't know why. She knew that Temari was dating Sai so why is she flirting with Shikamaru. Ino then said her goodbyes to Sakura and made her away across the parking lot to Shikamaru.

"Hi Shika-kun, How are you? Gosh it's such a shame that I broke up with you when you are just too damn sexy." Temari said to Shikamaru as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"We never dated all I did was escort you home." He said as he saw Ino walking over to them. He then pried Temari's arms off him and pushed her to the side. Temari then saw Ino made an 'hmmp' sound and stormed off.

"And I thought you were troublesome that woman is even more troublesome." Shikamaru said to Ino as he opened the passenger door for her.

"She is also a huge flirt just like Karin." Ino said as she got in. Shikamaru shut the door and walked over to the driver side and opened the door and got in.

"Ain't she dating your ex?" he asked.

"Yea but it doesn't bother me anymore. She can have him." She said. Shikamaru felt relieved that she was over Sai. Maybe he could get a chance with her.

"So what is up with you and Temari dating?" she asked him with a smirk. Apparently she didn't hear the part when he said that he only escorted her home a couple times.

"We never dated. I don't know why she thinks we did. All I ever did was escort her home back to her village because I had too." He said as he pulled out of the school parking lot.

"Crap I forgot that I promise your mom I will help her with gardening." Ino said.

"Don't worry I called her and told her you had a bad day that you will come over tomorrow." He said.

"Ok Friday is fine by me. I might be a little busy but I will try to make it to your house." she said. About 30 minutes later they were at her house. Shikamaru pulled into her drive way and Ino got out of the car.

"See ya." Shikamaru said.

"Bye thanks for the ride." Ino said to him as she watched him drive away. Ino walked into her house to see her father in the living room reading the newspaper and drinking a cup of tea along with her mother.

"Did Shikamaru gave you a ride home?" her father asked barely looking up at her. Ino took off her shoes.

"Yea," she then said as she headed to the kitchen to find something to eat. She then came back eating an apple.

"Well that was nice of him to give you one. Wait how come you didn't took your car?" her father asked.

"Because it had starting problems." She then said as she took another bite of her apple.

"Maybe I could look at it this weekend and see what is wrong." Her father then said.

"Ok," she said to him as she headed upstairs to her room.

**The next day-** Ino made sure that last night she didn't pulled an all-nighter by doing her homework early and went to bed early too. Her day started out good; she got up on time, did her hair and make-up and made sure she looked good. The only bad thing was that her car still wouldn't start. So she texted Shikamaru and he gladly came to pick her up. The rest of her day went well. She aced her History test which made her feel proud plus she didn't even fall asleep during math. Towards the end of her last class Tsunade made an announcement over the intercom.

"KHS no gakusei konnichiwa. Shikko hyogi-kai no tame ni jikko ni kyomi no aru hito no tame ni getsuyobi no asa ni jimusho ni kite, seigan-sho o pikkuappu suru hitsuyo ga arimasu. Subete no koho-sha wa, ta no gakusei kara goju no shomei ga hitsuyodesu. Subarashii ichi-nichi to yoi shumatsu o motte iru." (Hello KHS students. For those interested in running for executive council need to come to the office on Monday morning and pick up a petition sheet. Every candidate needs fifty signatures from fellow students. Have a great day and a good weekend.) Tsunade announced.

"I need to remember that," Ino thought as she wrote on the corner of her last class notebook the info so that she will remember it. Soon after the announcement the bell rang so it was time to go home.


End file.
